Cardinal

Unless you make a lot of money with your mid-range zoom lens, or are willing to spend what it takes to get the best, $1900 for the 2 pound Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 lens is a hard price to justify. For that price, you get an ultra-sharp, ultra-fast, lens, but you don’t even get VR. I’ve enjoyed using Sigma’s version, the Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 lens that I reviewed in 2010. It is much less expensive, but not as solidly built and also isn’t stabilized. Until now there hasn’t been a value-priced version of a 24-70 f/2.8 that could measure up to the Nikon. That’s why I was excited to work with the new Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 Lens, which not only featured a fast focus motor but unique among mid-range pro zooms, also has image stabilization….

 

The Achilles heel of smartphones as an all-around tool for photographers is their universally mediocre battery life.

I was fortunate enough to be able to shoot with a Nikon D4 on my recent Alaska photo safaris. It was a blast, and allowed me to get some great images that I probably wouldn’t have gotten with previous DSLRs – especially those requiring High ISO shooting. It gave me the chance to reflect back on the last 12 years of my photography of bears in Alaska, starting with film and progressing through the D1 and nearly every other Nikon DSLR since. I put my thoughts together in an article for Extremetech on how the improvements in DSLRs have enhanced our ability to photograph.

I’m really happy to say that I’ll be leading a photo walk for B&H through the Bronx Zoo in New York on Thursday, June 7th. The event is free, but you do need to pay for your Zoo admission. For those of you in or around the New York area its about the easiest way to get some practice in on your wildlife photography. Open to photographers of all ages and all amounts of gear! You can register for the event online with B&H. Lorrie and I hope to see you there!

Okay, they’re not really called “dork lights.” They’re headlamps, but it’s hard to deny that they make you look a bit like a dork. However, they’re invaluable, so for my contribution to Chris Gampat’s piece on the B&H blog on the most interesting and useful accessory in my camera bag, the choice was a no brainer. You can read his full post, including some other great recommendations, and when you’re convinced you can buy yourself the cat’s meow of photographers’ headlamps, the Petzl Zipka Plus 2, for $44 at Amazon – it features a retractable cord, multiple brightness levels, and both white and red LEDs for regular and night vision use.

Adobe has released Lightroom 4, and it will be shipping from B&H starting tomorrow, so you can order your copy today.

The full version of Adobe Lightroom 4 is $149

The upgrade version of Adobe Lightroom 4 is $79

The Student and Teacher version of Adobe Lightroom 4 is also $79

When a war correspondent fudges an image there is no question that it is a problem for them, and for their news organization. And when a nature photographer fibs about a contest image, as happened with the “Wildlife photographer of the year” that’s a known bad thing. So too when photos in National Geographic or other nature magazines have been fudged to distort reality. This week though, truth in bird photos has reached a new zenith…

Details continue to emerge about the expected Nikon D800. Reportedly a couple shooters have early versions and are confirming that the camera will indeed feature a 36MP full-frame sensor, while being smaller than the D700. At first this seems a little looney, as such a high-resolution camera is unlikely to be able to match the low noise capability the D3/D3s/D700 pack of full-frame sensor cameras have come to be known for. But maybe Nikon is crazy like a fox…

--by David Cardinal

It has become almost impossible to actually figure out how big a sensor is, or how long a lens is, just by glancing at the specs. For most of the photography industry, for many decades, 35mm was more or less the norm. By definition that meant a standard size film negative, about 35mm by 24mm – corresponding to today’s “full frame” sensors – and a simple measurement of focal length for lenses could be read right of the lens as a result.